Though they emerge distinct from the oven, each hand-tossed pie at Balducci's House of Pizza begins the same way—with dough that's made fresh daily. Upon that base, cooks assemble customized combos of more than 30 ingredients, including chopped steak. Those same fixings crown specialty pizzas such as the bacon- and feta-topped Mad Detective or the pink-slip-topped Even Madder Detective.

Though Balducci's specializes in pizza, subs take up even more space on its menu. The fillings in these sandwiches run the gamut from cold tuna salad to piping-hot meatballs or chicken cordon bleu cutlets. Other Italian staples round out the menu, including housemade lasagna and calzones filled with cold cuts.